Announcing the 2008 PlatypusTM Workshops

Because of heavy demand, we are increasing the number of workshops for 2008 to five.

These workshops are acknowledged as the gold standard of Digital Video training. In 9 days, we teach high definition digital shooting and editing, with an emphasis on story telling. It is unique in the industry. We have taught over 200 photojournalists since our inception in 1999. Our graduates have gone on to do television documentaries, Web videos, especially for newspapers and even films. One of our graduates was a nominee for an Oscar in 2006.

They are taught by Dirck Halstead, PF Bentley and Roger Richards, all award-winning photojournalists. We know where you come from and what you want to do.

This year we offer two special workshops. The first is a multimedia workshop, which will be a two-day course in Maine. The second follows that one. It is to accommodate newspaper photojournalists who have already attended our short courses at their papers. Because they have already heard all the theory, we will reduce the exposition in these classes, and spend more time doing projects. By the end of these workshops you will have either produced broadcast-ready projects, or a major Web multimedia project. The workshops provide all equipment. All you need is to bring your headphones and your enthusiasm. We have purposely scheduled the multimedia workshop so that people finishing Platypus 1 in Maine can then attend it, and people in Platypus 2 can come a few days early to catch it.

The Remaining Dates for 2008

Ventura, CA Workshop:

May 23-June 1
Advanced FCP Workshop June 2-4
Production Workshop June 5-7

The Maine Media Workshop:

July 27-August 4
August 5-7 Multimedia Workshop
August 8-16 Special Platypus for graduates of our newspaper short courses.

To apply to the workshops:

We recommend you enroll early. We had to turn away too many people in 2007.

• The cost of the Platypus Workshops for shoot 'n' edit is $1895. We can accommodate 12 in a workshop. However, we can take another dozen as producer/participants at $750 each. We strongly recommend the team approach for newspapers.

• The cost of the Multimedia Workshop is $495. There is a 10% discount to NPPA and ASMP members.

We also offer our Platypus Short Courses for individual publications and agencies. These Are Not Hands-On Workshops, but are a two-day introduction to video story telling. Pricing is based on circulation. Contact dhalstead@mac.com.

For More on the Platypus Workshops Read the September/October Issue of HD Video Pro.